Pembroke needs a new highway garage, and, to pay for it, the town may require a referendum.
Town Supervisor Thomas Schneider said a replacement highway garage could cost as much as $5 million.
The existing highway garage serves as a storage and maintenance shop. The garage also secures trucks and other equipment that salt the roads during severe winter weather.
“Our trucks are a lot bigger than they used to be,” Schneider said. “It [the garage] has a flat roof, which does not make sense in this climate. Rather than spend money and do a complete refurbishment, not knowing what you will get into, it seems more reasonable to look at replacing it.”
The project is in its early planning stages and could potentially begin next year. Town officials might finance the garage through a bond resolution before it goes to bid.
“But it might be subject to a 30-day permissive referendum,” Schneider said. “That would happen if someone disagreed with the town board. Say, for example, we did vote to approve a bond resolution, but if a resident or someone else disagreed with us, they would have 30 days to circulate a petition to ask for a vote on it.”
Per New York law, a town board’s resolutions are subject to a referendum on petition. Voters may petition for acts or resolutions to appear on a ballot so that they may decide any given matter through an election.
“We are trying to do this within the confines of our existing budget, depending upon if we were to finance it and depending upon the length of the financing that would determine whether or not we would have to increase taxes,” Schneider said.
Town Board members met to discuss the matter of a replacement garage at a June 22 workshop, but those conversations didn’t go far, Schneider said.
As for what's next, Schneider said the town has yet to schedule any hearings.
"The matter is with our bond counsel right now," Schneider said
"He's working up the needed paperwork."
Also on the June 22 agenda was a community center kitchen.
Schneider said the town rents one part of the community center to the Village of Corfu for their offices. The rent agreement is up for renewal.
“We are in discussion with them about an increase in the rent because they have not had an increase in, I believe, 10 years,” Schneider said.
“The rent is currently about $11,000 a year. No one has decided what a new proposed rent would be, but, more than likely, there will be an increase.”
